CIOSP4 Update from the RFP Groundhog

CIOSP4 Update from the RFP Groundhog

If you aren’t familiar with CIOSP4… it’s the follow on a major government contact that is used for billions in federal procurements. (That contract is CIOSP3.) These major procurements are commonly protested repeatedly and take years to be competed. Many were hoping that a CIOSP4 award might be around the corner.

It’s not time to start thinking about bidding task orders on CIOSP4 yet. Bidders were recently sent a letter that NITAAC (the CIOSP4 program office) is taking actions to address protests. The protests seemed to center on arguments related to the scoring methodology used to in the bid and the overall points verification process.

?In response to protests filed with the GAO in February and March of 2023, NITAAC is taking the following steps (according to their communications with bidders):

1)?????Reassess the source selection methodology

2)?????Make a new determination on the highest rated offerors to proceed to Phase 2

There was also language related to validating all proposals and rescinding all of the unsuccessful offeror notices sent on January 31.

What does all this mean?

This could be a long delay. Action #2 might have been a quick activity. Using the existing scoring methodology and recounting the points might have been done in a month or less and led to the next phase in April. Action #1 is what sounds ominous to me.

Revisiting the scoring methodology could take a long time and require resubmissions of bids. The scoring methodology dictated that project references could only be used a certain number of times in various categories. If that guidance changes, then offers would need to be provided an opportunity to change their bids. That process would require (based on my opinion) at least 30 days to determine the new scoring, 30 days to allow offerors to update bids, and 30 days to evaluate again.

The scoring methodology is so central to CIOSP4 (and any points-style procurements) that changing the scoring process can easily lead to more comments and protests from bidders. For those waiting for a recompete or planning to use the vehicle… modifying the scoring methodology says months of delay to me. But my opinion is less valuable than that of a true expert.

The Debut of the RFP Groundhog

Inspired by the significantly more professional RFP discussion from David Blackburn and OrangeSlices AI …. I’d like to welcome Greenbank Gus – the RFP Groundhog. He’s a distant cousin of Punxsutawney Phil and lives in Greenbank, WV on the grounds of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. While his process for forecasting RFP delays is far more complex than Phil’s weather projections… it still leverages shadow visibility.

When I spoke to Gus, he was adamant that there will be no CIOSP4 awards before June of 2023. Stay tuned for other RFP updates. Gus and I both have plenty of spare time for RFP analysis.

Photo by Abigail Lynn on Unsplash